Leafs' projected lines for Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks
The Leafs have been on an absolute heater of late, earning points in each of their last 14 games and on pace to finish the season with a franchise record 119 points. So, as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
After a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, the Leafs are back at practice on Monday following a day off on Sunday. Next up, the Buds will play the Anaheim Ducks, who will be traveling to Toronto after tonight's game in Ottawa. The Ducks are currently the NHL's last place team, carrying a 7-18-3 record through 28 games to start the season. Last place team, coming to Toronto on the 2nd half of a back-to-back WITH travel? This has trap game written all over it.
The Leafs already overlooked the Ducks once this season, dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Ducks back on October 30th to close out the month and used that embarrassing loss to kick off a scorching hot November. They haven't looked back since. Hopefully this one will be more of a redemption game than anything else.
In terms of how the roster will look on Tuesday night, it will look largely the same as it did on Saturday, minus Wayne Simmonds, who skated as an extra at practice on Monday after being benched in the 3rd period of the Leafs' 5-4 OT win against the Flames. Pierre Engvall draws back in after serving his 1-game suspension for high-sticking LA's Sean Durzi.
Here's what the projected lineups look like ahead of Tuesday's game against Anaheim:
Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Malgin-Tavares-Marner
Kerfoot-Kampf-Engvall
AstonReese-Holmberg-Anderson
Extra: Simmonds
Giordano-Holl
Sandin-Liljegren
Brodie-Timmins
Extra: Benn(IR)-Hollowell
A couple of weeks ago, Sheldon Keefe informed the media that he plans to largely keep his starting goaltending decisions between he and his coaching staff moving forward. This past week, Keefe did not remain true to his word, announcing his goalies in advance of games against Dallas, LA and Calgary. So, with that in mind, I'd imagine we'll hear after today's practice or tomorrow's morning skate who will get the nod against the Ducks.
If history tells us anything after a tough Matt Murray outing, he'll get right back in there, just as he did with Dallas after a disappointing loss against the Lightning. However, with Samsonov coming off of his first shutout as a Leaf and with Murray having played a lot of hockey in recent weeks, perhaps it makes more sense to start the 25-year-old instead. I suppose we'll find out in short order.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 12 | 171 ANSWERS Leafs' projected lines for Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks Who should the Leafs start against the Ducks? | ||
| Matt Murray | 36 | 21.1 % |
| Ilya Samsonov | 135 | 78.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
